Self sealing fuel tanks + Spitfire

RE: Self sealing fuel tanks + Spitfire

Hi Ant,
Apologies for not saying, Thanks earlier. The excuse: I was about to reply, when I got orders from Mrs. Neilly- WE’RE off to B&Q (this is the bit where Neilly, 6’4″ ex Rugby player, etc etc. quakes in his wellies & says “yes dear”, to Mrs. Neilly 5’4″). I quitely follow, like the preverbial lamb to the slaughter, knowing I WILL be decorating the kitchen, soon. I then forgot to say thank you to you next time I came online.

Many thanks,
Neilly

RE: Self sealing fuel tanks + Spitfire

Have been doing a bit of research and I’m now a bit clearer on the subject.It all really depends what is meant by a self sealing fuel tank.It is true that rubber linings were fitted inside conventional metal tanks by 1940,but this gave only limited protection.If a relatively small calibre bullet were to puncture the tank,then the rubber lining could cope with it,but against cannon shells it stood no chance.During tests carried out in the US before the war some designs of tank simply disintergrated when hit by a cannon shell,making the tank’s lining rather irrelevent!The shockwaves of the shell’s impact,coupled with it’s detonation,sent massive shocks through the structure of the tank,so even if it didn’t explode or disintergrate it would almost certainly suffer a severe rupture.Rubber linings also did little to reduce the risk of explosion of the tank through the ignition of the highly flammable gases within.So all in all the rubber linings only overcame one or two of the shortfalls of a conventional tank.
Much better were the later bag-type tanks because these deflated as the fuel was used and the highly flammable gases within the tank were allowed to escape,decreasing the risk of explosion by a long way.They also had no structural parts to them,so they didn’t rupture or disintergrate to such a great extent.
An interesting sidenote is the case of the LaGG-3,and a number of later Russian fighters.They used a system whereby some of the exhaust gases were syphoned off down the fuselage to a box full of copper filings in the tail,the copper having some sort of benefitial effect on the exhaust gases(the gases also cooled as they travelled up and down the fuselage piping) and then sent back into the fuel tanks.This had the effect of neutralising the flammable gases within the tank and thereby reducing the chance of explosion.The fuel tanks themselves were also lined with self sealing rubber.The only drawback was that the exhaust gases started eating into the rubber tank linings,but the benefits seem to have outweighed the problems.
Hope this clears up one or two things.

RE: Self sealing fuel tanks + Spitfire

I’m not sure how widespread self sealing tanks were in the Battle of Britain-it’s actually news to me that there were any as early as 1940.I’ve always thought that the majority were unprotected,so I’ll have to do a bit of research…

RE: Self sealing fuel tanks + Spitfire

Hi Ant,
Thanks for the input, Ant. So does that mean some aircraft had self-sealing tanks, while others did not?

Cheers,
Neilly.

ps Good to see you back!

RE: Self sealing fuel tanks + Spitfire

I’ve read recently that Hugh Dowding expressed an interest in self sealing tanks as early as the mid-1930’s.When he met a team of government scientists he was purposely shown the wieght and performance figures for armoured fuel tanks rather than self sealing ones.It seems that to introduce self sealing tanks would have cost money,so the government decieved him with these figures to try and put him off the idea.Sadly it worked,and so the majority of Spitfires and Hurricanes in the Battle of Britain had no form of fuel tank protection at all,with dire consequences for many of ‘The Few’.

RE: Self sealing fuel tanks + Spitfire

You´re welcome!!

Christer

RE: Self sealing fuel tanks + Spitfire

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 11-04-02 AT 09:03 AM (GMT)]Hi Christer,
Many thanks for that. I feel a letter coming on!!! I’m in one of my pedantic moods this week, so a letter of complaint will do very nicely.

Thanks again,
Neilly

RE: Self sealing fuel tanks + Spitfire

Neilly,

according to “Modifications Introduced To Spitfire MK I” as quoated in “Spitfire The History”:
Mod #223: Introduce Linatex covered lower fuel tank, 25-4-40
Mod #273: Fit self sealing to lower fuel tank, 27-7-40

Well, it seems like You´re correct!

Regards,
Christer